LONDON/UNITED NATIONS, New York — Motherhood in childhood is a huge global problem, especially in developing countries, where every year 7.3 million girls under 18 give birth, according to The State of World Population 2013 , released today by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
Of these 7.3 million births, 2 million are to girls 14 or younger, who suffer the gravest long-term health and social consequences from pregnancy, including high rates of maternal death and obstetric fistula, … [Read more...]

Follow the conversation on Twitter & Facebook #MDG5
With less than 900 days remaining to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), the Forum brings together a High-Level Panel to discuss what needs to be done to rapidly accelerate the achievement ofMDG5 (improve maternal health). Although progress has been made, MDG5 falls far short of agreed targets. Reaching MDG5 requires focusing on proven interventions to reduce maternal death and achieve universal access to reproductive … [Read more...]

ZA’ATARI CAMP, JORDAN, 29 May 2013 (IRIN) - When aid workers with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) speak to women inside Syria - many of them displaced from their homes and living in cramped collective shelters - they say they would rather do anything than get pregnant.
“No one wants to be pregnant in the shelters… that’s universal wherever we go,” said Laila Baker, UNFPA representative in Syria. “There is no place to take care of the baby and it’s another mouth to feed.”
In … [Read more...]

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The International Day to End Obstetric Fistula
MAY 23
In December 2012, 167 countries from around the world co-sponsored a biannual resolution at the United Nations General Assembly that called on all Member States to support the activities of UNFPA and its partners in the Campaign to End Fistula.
This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the Campaign to End Fistula, a collaborative initiative launched by UNFPA and its partners.
Check out Friends of UNFPA’s new … [Read more...]

Getting results
Team leaders report:
Higher self-esteem
Desire to pursue higher education
Plans to delay marriage and childbearing Parents also report changed expectations for their daughtersNearly 40 per cent of Guatemala's 14 million people belong to one of more than 20 indigenous Mayan groups. A disproportionate number live in poor and isolated rural areas with limited access to basic services such as water, sanitation, education and health.
Opportunities for the young people … [Read more...]

Following the formal opening of the G77 High-Level Panel of Eminent Personalities of the South, UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin posed along with other eminent figures, including Heads of State of the Pacific Island Nations.
SUVA, Fiji — If alarming rates of Violence Against Women are to be effectively addressed, the status of women needs to be elevated.
UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin emphasized the fundamental, often unacknowledged, contributions of … [Read more...]

ZA'ATARI, Jordan — In a tent hospital bed, a Syrian woman who was four months pregnant when she fled her country's civil war cradles one of the newest residents of this dust-swept refugee camp: Her newborn son, just delivered by Caesarean.
Around a dozen babies are born every day in Za'atari camp, which is home to 120,000 Syrians and counting – and there's only one, overworked Moroccan doctor performing C-sections.
Still, the clinic where he operates and several other field hospitals here … [Read more...]

GENEVA — UNFPA accepted today a donation of $5 million from the Government of Kuwait to respond to the urgent needs of displaced people in Syria and of refugees in neighboring countries.
These indispensable funds will allow UNFPA to continue saving women's lives, help them deliver babies safely, and protect them from gender-based violence.
"Thanks to this donation, UNFPA will able to scale up its humanitarian assistance and to establish hubs inside Syria, including mobile clinics, in … [Read more...]

For the first time since independence in 1991, one of Kyrgyzstan’s regions succeeded in reducing maternal mortality to zero: in the north-western Talas region, not a single woman died during 2012 while being pregnant or as a result of giving birth.
The UNFPA Country Office in Kyrgyzstan has contributed to this success by training health care providers in the Talas region on effective perinatal care with a focus on emergency obstetric care and antenatal care. UNFPA experts also … [Read more...]

Yesterday, 5 April 2013, we mark the start of the countdown of the last 1,000 days to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015. We have cause to Celebrate the Successes achieved around the world, but we must also urgently ramp up our work, resources and actions in areas that are lagging behind.
MDG Basics
The Millennium Development Goals focus the efforts of the world community on achieving significant, measurable improvements in people's lives. They establish yardsticks … [Read more...]

Addressing Gender-Based Violence
No. of pages: 12
Publication date: 2013
Available languages: English
Download PDF English
This brochure provides an overview of UNFPA's role in addressing gender-based violence, an enormous impediment to sexual and reproductive health, as well as a major human rights issue. Recognizing that gender inequalities and their most brutal manifestation – gender-based violence – inhibit women and girls from accessing reproductive health services, and … [Read more...]

As the global spotlight has turned more sharply over the last decade on the persistence of violence against women and girls, the need for more and better data to inform evidence-based programming in order to address this human rights violation has escalated.
As this brochure describes, advocates and defenders of women’s and girls’ safety and rights, as well as international agencies, national policymakers and donors, need to to understand the nature and magnitude of the violence. They seek … [Read more...]

CSW 2012
The fifty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 27 February to 9 March 2012. The closing meeting was held on 15 March 2012.
The 2012 session focused on the following key areas:
Priority Theme: The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges
Review Theme: Financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women
Emerging … [Read more...]

Wednesday, 6 February 2013
7:45 AM EST / 12:45 PM GMT
Join Here: http://bit.ly/WGlrCa
WHAT: To observe the International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, 6 February, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, UNICEF and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) will host a Google+ Hangout discussion on the progress made in FGM/C abandonment, and the challenges that remain ahead.
WHO:
The virtual event will … [Read more...]

LOEI, Thailand — After four days of trekking from his village by foot, a two-day bus ride across Bhutan, an international flight to Bangkok and a long van ride, Sonam finally arrived at this mountainous province in northeastern Thailand.
The midwife from Gelephu, a small village in eastern Bhutan, was one of more than 20 Bhutanese health professionals selected to participate in a technical training on reproductive health care services.
The programme, supported by UNFPA, is part of a … [Read more...]